Have you ever noticed that it seems that many homeschoolers don't necessarily choose home education for themselves? It seems to choose them? So sometimes we come into it a bit overwhelmed, making decisions as we go, sometimes making one mistake after another.... (raising hand!)

Sometimes it ends up being more than we signed up for. We may even consider quitting. Or maybe we aren't that far into questioning our choices, but we also know there has to be a better way.

Maybe you started homeschooling out of necessity, and you jumped in hurriedly?

Maybe you just dove in hoping for the best, but you weren't sure what to expect?

Maybe you thought you had it figured out, but life circumstances, learning disabilities, personality conflicts... something... came in and derailed your plans?

Maybe things aren't going so badly, but you also don't feel like you're thriving like it seems others are?

Maybe you're kind of new and feeling overwhelmed, unsure of how to make decisions when there are just SO MANY options and opinions out there?

I also know I have many more experiences ahead of me that will test me, refine me, rework my own education and give me great joy as we look into the next two decades of home education.

One thing I've learned for sure, is that no matter what brought you into homeschooling, what challenges you face along the way, and what the rest of your life looks like, the MOST IMPORTANT thing you can do for your long-term homeschool success is craft a vision.

Where there is no vision, the people perish; - Proverbs 29:18a

Without a vision and purpose, you can't know where you're going. It's like driving across the country without a map or GPS. You make a lot of wrong turns, run into a ton of dead ends, and waste a huge amount of energy, money, and time.

Without a vision for where you are headed, you don't have a construct for making choices about commitments, schedules, extracurriculars, or curriculum purchases. In contrast, when you craft a well-laid, prayerful vision for your home education journey, you create a roadmap to guide all future decisions.

A vision sets your purpose on high, to keep in constant consideration as a consistent and faithful motivation for doing the hard work of home education.

In order to create a vision, however, we have to know our WHY. Then we have to identify all of our current roadblocks to cultivating our vision, while clearing out the clutter. Then we must cast a vision and begin making all decisions from that solid foundation created from our purpose and ideals.

Will it make your days idyllic and perfect? Nah. Of course not. We are big sinners teaching little sinners, and our enemy is alive and active.

I can't promise perfection. What I can assure you is that if you can frame the WHY of what you're doing, begin to cull the many distractions and noises that are causing mayhem in your day-to-day life, and craft a full and complete vision for your homeschool, then you will absolutely shift from surviving each day to feeling confident and capable and thusly thriving in your God-ordained and grace-bathed journey as a homeschool mom.

So now the question is: HOW!?! You may appreciate some guidance in working through all those steps? Maybe this will help: Enter your email below to receive the FULL "Surviving to Thriving" workbook that will walk you through this process. Don't worry- it's FREE! If you're already a subscriber, go snag it from the Practical Joy Resource Library using your password :).